The Way We Get By
by YouWouldntLikeMe
Summary: The Lorelais' Early Years. Starting with Rory's birth and going all the way up to applying to Chilton.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story. **

**Ok, so pretty much I wanted to write a fiction that was a little different and I was watching the episode with Mia and thought – how much fun would it be to write about their lives pre-the start of the show? So I started it. Starting with the night of Rory's birth and _eventually, one day_, will go all the way up to the application to Chilton. **

**The Way We Get By – Chapter One**

"Lorelai? That's her name? Lorelai." She stammered in rage. "This is still a joke to you isn't it? You have a child."

"I like the name Lorelai." The girl responded absentmindedly as she stared through the glass.

"Well of course you do – it's your name. For goodness sake would you look at me when I'm speaking to you?" The woman tucked her normally impeccably groomed red hair behind her ear and continued her rant. "You are a mother now, and this girl needs a father. Christopher has asked you to marry him at least three times now. You're being irresponsible. The wedding will be a month from now. I will drag you to the ceremony if I must but I will not allow my grandchild to-"

The younger girl wasn't listening instead she pressed her fingers up against the glass and stared at the little pink bundle that was her daughter. Daughter, she thought, I'm a mother. The whole thing was surreal. She was supposed to be taking her SATs not giving birth. But Lorelai had always been happiest when she wasn't doing what she was 'supposed' to be doing. She prayed this wasn't going to be the exception. 

She smiled softly, that little bundle of baby was by far the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The brunette teenager pressed her forehead against the glass. Never breaking eye contact with the big blue eyes staring up at her. The baby gurgled slightly and clenched its fingers.

Her baby was finally a reality. It should have been a reality for her when the strip turned pink. Or when she spent hours in piercing pain delivering it. But it hadn't been until she held the little baby, which had been growing inside her for the better part of the year, did she really understand it; she was responsible for this amazing creature. The concept quite frankly scared the crap out of her. But along with that she was incredibly happy. She was excited. For the first time in her life she had a purpose beyond the socialite activities she rebelled so strongly against. She was guaranteed a life her parents hadn't planned every moment of.

"Lorelai!" she looked up slightly dazed, making it clear to her mother she wasn't listening. "I can't believe you! Honestly! Here I am talking about your future and how we're going to make it work and you aren't listening. You're impossible! Just impossible!"

"Can we please go soon?" Lorelai asked sincerely. "I really don't want to do this right now. I just want to go back to the house."

"What about your daughter? Are you just going to leave her here? You can't do that Lorelai – it doesn't work like that! We gave you the option of adoption and you didn't take it."

"Yes mom I meant leave my child that I just gave birth to, here. Abandon her. That is exactly what I meant." She spat angrily. "I meant let's go get Lorelai, check out and then go to the house. I don't want to be here any longer then is positively necessary."

"Fine. Let's go." Her mother snapped and pulled her purse even higher up on her shoulder.

"Thank you." Her voice was small as she rotated to the window again.

Lorelai sat next to the car seat gently stroking the little bit of hair her daughter had. Christopher sat on the other side of her; sleeping. The car was perfectly silent. Lorelai was able to hear every gurgle and sputter. She found it terrifying.

She couldn't stop wondering how this life was going to work, parenting her daughter while still being parented. The wedding plans were already being made for Christopher and her. A wedding she, incidentally, wanted no part of. Lorelai's parents planned on raising her daughter and continuing on with the controlling of her future. This was merely a detour in the raise a Gilmore Socialite plan. It was fixable. And if they were lucky, they would get a second shot with Lorelai number two. They would do everything right; she wouldn't turn out like their daughter. 

Lorelai felt sick at the idea of trying to raise a kid at the Gilmore Mansion. She winced slightly at the idea of taking her daughter to fancy parties, dressing her in expensive dresses and planning out every detail of her future. She didn't want there to be pressures and expectations.

She looked out her window; her mother was clearly lost. They were now driving through a tiny town. One of those novel quirky Middle American towns filled with cheesy gift shops and silly festivals. Everything was safe and innocent. It was all very idealistic and sweet. That was where Lorelai wanted to raise her daughter, a place free of all stress and anxiety that came along with being a _"Gilmore Child. "_

_"Gilmore Children"_ didn't get messy or bicker. They sat politely and quietly in the itchy dresses they were forced to wear. They didn't do chores or work. They were micromanaged by their mothers. They were hurt by best intentions. They were given everything to be the perfect child but heaven forbid they want a different life. 

Lorelai didn't want to raise her daughter like that. The little bundle sniffled slightly. Smiling again in spite of herself, Lorelai realized this was the best possible thing that could have happened to her, she was going to raise her daughter in a small town and she was going to make a life for herself. She was going to do this her way.

Her head was spinning slightly. Just a couple months ago her biggest concern was that Sandy Miller had admitted to having a crush on Christopher. Lorelai had always been jealous of Sandy, great relationship with her mother, free to be whoever she wanted, drop dead gorgeous. Now she couldn't help but laugh at the memory. She was a mother now. She liked saying that in her head, "I'm a mother. I have a daughter." The girl who was angry with Sandy seemed so far away.

Of course she wasn't stupid; her subconscious was gnawing at her perfect fantasies with questions like "where are we going to live?" "How am I going to provide for us?" "What if I'm not ready?" but all of that was going to have to wait because right then all that mattered was Lorelai had a destiny she liked. No matter how realistic all the concerns were something in her gut told her that this was going to work out.

When the car finally pulled into the driveway everyone sat awkwardly for a moment. Christopher was slowly waking up and Emily was gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter; attempt to strangle it. Richard had parted with them at the hospital due to an emergency at work, leaving her alone with her teenage daughter, her newly born granddaughter and the boy who impregnated her teenage daughter. She didn't trust herself with anything she could say at the moment. She was falling apart at the seams, desperately craving a cigarette, a nasty habit she had quit years ago, and she still had a DAR function to run in the morning.

"Lorelai?" Christopher mumbled, slowly coming out of his stupor. "Where are we?"

"My house." Lorelai answered distractedly, she was in the middle of carefully removing the baby from its car seat, trying very hard not to wake it.

"Oh. Right. My car."

Emily gripped the steering wheel tighter. Everything about this situation was grossly inappropriate. Chris shouldn't be so nonchalant about the birth of his daughter. Lorelai should care that Chris didn't care. Lorelai shouldn't be pregnant. What on earth had she done as a parent to deserve this humiliation? Had she not always provided with Lorelai with everything a child could possibly need?

"Chris, go home." Emily said voice shaking. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Right."

"Bye Christopher." Lorelai leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She smiled weakly as he said his goodbyes. He forgot to say good bye to the second Lorelai, the baby that Lorelai the elder was holding, his daughter.

As he stepped out of the car Lorelai grabbed his sleeve. "Hey," she said quietly, "What about her?" Nodding down to the dozing baby in her lap. He mumbled a quick goodbye and bent over to kiss the baby on the head but "mistakenly" kissed Lorelai's thigh.

Lorelai glared. She knew he was trying to be cute but it wasn't funny. Not only was her mother in the front seat but he was completely avoiding Baby Lorelai. He wanted to get married soon and Lorelai wanted desperately to marry him, live happily ever after but she knew it wasn't going to work like that. Not now. It wouldn't be the life they envisioned when they talked about eloping. They had a daughter he could barely acknowledge, they would end up living in the pool house at the Gilmore Mansion and he would start working as an insurance salesmen not a Radio DJ. And for Christ's sake, they weren't even seniors in high school yet.

Holding Baby Lorelai carefully, Lorelai carried her inside mentally prepping herself for the week ahead. Her planning was cut short by the slam of the front door and a shrill scream. Lorelai stood at the bottom of the stairs trapped between baby sobbing hysterically because somebody woke it up and mother screaming hysterically because her life had been tail spinning for months now.

"Lorelai Gilmore! I honestly – I've held my tongue through this process. You're pregnancy, you're mood swings, you're late night phone calls to Christopher, you're hormones, you're leaving school – but so help me – what just happened in the car was not only inappropriate but crude and downright disgusting. In front of me! In front of the baby! You two take _nothing _seriously! Life is just sex and fun to you. It doesn't matter that you were holding a baby – you couldn't keep your hands off each other." She ranted as she rummaged through her pharmacy bag in search of the Newport Lights she had bought on the way to the hospital. "Disgusting, just disgusting."

"Are you kidding me?" Lorelai hissed, while bouncing her baby lightly. "First of all, you're making it worse then it was. All clothes were on, I was holding a baby and his hands were no where near my body, so all things considered it could have been much, much worse. Second of all, do you think I _wanted _him to kiss me instead of Baby Lorelai?"

Emily light a cigarette and started smoking it vigorously. This was the first time since Lorelai announced her pregnancy they were discussing it with out at chaperone. Someone to break it up and send them to their respective corners.

"Yes, I do." She coughed.

"Oh my god! Honestly Mom, do you have any idea how much it hurt to stand there looking at her through the glass with Christopher? He didn't get it. He just stared absently through the window. He asked me to marry him. He asked me if I wanted to go make out in the closet. He asked me what time it was. He could barely say a word about Baby Lorelai." She was trying to lull her daughter back to sleep but the fighting was preventing her from doing anything of the sort.

"And you're surprised? He's a teenage boy! He doesn't know the first thing about being a parent, and quite frankly I'm surprised you've gotten this far." She dropped the cigarette on the wood floor and stomped it out. To hell with manners and appearances; she needed another cigarette.

"Right. Lorelai can't do anything herself – she's completely incapable of succeeding at anything. It's not like you can talk anyways mom. You're not exactly a beacon for perfect parenting. Your only daughter got herself pregnant at sixteen!" The baby was hysterical and red faced now. Lorelai was simultaneously trying to get her to back to sleep and fight with her mother.

Emily lit _another _cigarette as she ran into the living room to grab something to drink. Something strong. "Lorelai Gilmore so help me god if you move. This conversation isn't anywhere near over."

She returned, vodka bottle in her hand, half burnt cigarette in the other, hair completely disheveled. You wouldn't recognize this woman as the same Emily Gilmore who planned DAR functions and fired maids for walking to quickly. She was a nervous wreck; years of frustration and anger were now manifesting themselves in her current behavior.

"So you blame me for pregnancy? I, by giving you the best of everything, forced you to get pregnant is that it Lorelai? This is _my _fault?"

"Mom, I don't know. I really, really don't know. It's three in the morning I have a hysterical baby that I only recently gave birth to. I don't blame you for my pregnancy – I just I don't know. I really don't know. It was just my life was always set out for me. I never had any choice. Every since I was little every detail of my life was planned it was just. It was strained. It was suffocating. I don't maybe I just needed to breathe." Lorelai practically whispered the words.

"Lorelai, go to your room. I can't deal with you tonight. We'll continue this in the morning after my DAR brunch." Emily rubbed her temple and waved her hand at Lorelai signaling for her to leave.

Closing the door behind her Lorelai entered her bedroom. She placed Baby Lorelai in her basinet. Baby Lorelai was still crying, but with less passion, now she was merely whimpering.

"We're gonna leave. Tomorrow. You and me, we're gonna find a place to live and I'm going to get a job and it's just going to be you and me." She rummaged through her closet for some suitcases. "I can't do this to you. I can't do this to me. It was tolerable before. I mean, I love my parents, I do. I don't want you to ever question that. I love them. But this just doesn't work. Me, you, them, Christopher."

Lorelai was now pulling out clothing out of drawers and throwing them onto the bed. "If this is going to work, and I want it to work so badly. It's got to be just you and me. Lorelai and Lorelai."

She laughed a little. "We're going to have to figure out a nickname for you. It's bad enough that the world now has two Lorelai Gilmores on the loose but talk about confusing. Lie, Lory, Lai, Lor, El, Ella?"

Baby Lorelai sniffled slightly.

"I'm boring you. That's cute. Baby Lorelai," the baby whimpered. "Ok, ok I'll figure out a better nickname. But I promise this will work. I promise, Ok?"

"Richard." Emily sobbed, "She's gone."

Emily held up the note and handed it to him,

"_Dear Mom and Dad, _

_First of all – I love you. I know I've never been really good at showing it, but I do. I love you both. But this wasn't going to work. The animosity between us would have made this unbearable. I will call in a week to check in. Don't worry, Rory and I will be fine._

_-Lorelai_

_P.S: Her name is Rory. I have no idea how I got to it but it works. I like it. She likes it. We like it." _

"Richard, she's gone." She turned into her husband and cried. He wrapped his arms around her and tried his best to stay strong. This was a two way street, as much as they tried to pawn all the blame off on Lorelai he knew there must have been something they could have done differently. But it was too late for that now.

**Thoughts, criticisms, etc? I'd really like to know what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story. **

**Real quick – this _isn't _an anti-Christopher fic. I, while not fond of him (at all), am trying to create as real a picture of the Lorelais' first 16 years as possible and Christopher, whether we like it or not was part of that. Clearly he was never a great father and we all know from the episode in season 3 where Lorelai and Rory help out with helping deliver Sherry's baby he wasn't exactly ideal at Rory's birth either. But all that aside – he was part of their early life, so Christopher will show up again. I just want to make that clear because I don't want to let anyone down when he shows up again later. So, on that mildly depressing note… on to the story. **

**The Way We Get By – Chapter Two**

"I need a job. Any job. I will take any job. Any job at all. I don't care. You could have me scrub toilets with a toothbrush and I would be happy. I need a job."

"Hello? I'm Mia." The woman extended her hand. Lorelai adjusted how she was holding Rory and shook it.

"I'm Lorelai." She smiled. "And this is my daughter Rory."

If Mia was taken aback by this she didn't let it show. She merely ushered Lorelai inside a staff room, ignoring the bags that were very ineffectively hidden behind the counter. Signaling for Lorelai to take a seat, Mia sat down.

"So, Lorelai, how old are you?"

"Sixteen." Lorelai stated matter of factly.

"And Rory is you're daughter?"

"Yes ma'am." Lorelai again was solid.

"What brings you to the Independence Inn?" Mia asked politely.

"Do you want a cute short story with a punch line or the actual one?" Lorelai cocked her head to side, daring Mia a little. It was a double edged sword, this habit of challenging people. She learned it from her mother and sometimes it was the appropriate method of communicating, keeping people off guard, staying in control of the conversation. Sometimes though, especially in situations with strangers, it caused people to dislike her.

Lucky for Lorelai it fascinated Mia. "Tell me the actual one and then I'll decide whether or not I want to hear the fictional one."

"Alright," Lorelai smiled brightly, "So clearly – I'm a teenage mother. I have no job. A little bit of money. I emptied my savings account. I have a total of a thousand two hundred and thirteen dollars. Which isn't nothing, but I mean I have this baby to provide for as well as myself. And not just for a couple of weeks – I need to keep us afloat.

I need her to be able to grow up normally. Now you're probably thinking, 'Where are you're parents in this situation?' They are currently in Hartford. They are rich. Very, very rich. But that's part of the problem, they use that money to manipulate people. By people right now I mean me. I have a kid. _I_ have to provide for her. I need to be in charge of this. Not them. I don't want that life."

"I see." Mia said a little dumbstruck by Lorelai's honesty.

"So," Lorelai finished breathlessly "That's why I'm here. I need to start a new life."

"We need a maid." Mia offered shortly. "The hours can be flexible."

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Lorelai's face lit up instantly. "I mean I have _zero _experience."

"Are you trying to talk me out of this?" Mia laughed slightly.

"No, no. I'm just – I don't want to – I, oh my god thank you." Lorelai gushed. Lorelai was a lucky, lucky girl and she knew it. Mia could tell by the look on Lorelai's face that she hadn't expected such luck but was not going to turn such good fortune down. Mia couldn't help but take a liking to this clearly confident and sweet girl; but it was clear Lorelai was so far in over her head she couldn't see the surface.

"Do you have any rooms available right now? I mean, I know, I'm completely putting you on the spot again but I need a place to stay for a couple of days while I look for a place and I have some money and since you know its right here so I don't have to walk and oh god a car." She continued rambling senselessly until her brain was able to catch up to her mouth. She sat silently for a second before talking again, "Wow this is life, huh?"

Mia laughed wholeheartedly this time. "This is life."

"Right, Ok, Deep breath Lorelai." She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Alright so, um, now what?"

"Now I will show you around the inn, briefly give you a run down of you're job and then we'll talk about room and board." Mia got up and started to walk out of the room when she turned suddenly. "Do you want me to hold, Rory? You arms look like they could use a break."

"Uh," Nobody other than Lorelai had held Rory yet, this was awkward handing her daughter over to a complete stranger. A very nice stranger. Who had offered to give her a job despite the fact she had no prior experience in any field. "Yeah, Just, careful?"

"I promise." Lorelai handed Rory over carefully to Mia. "Where did the name Rory come from? It's rather unusual." Lorelai followed Mia up the stairs.

"Well, actually her name is Lorelai. But that got confusing fast, Lorelai and Lorelai. It wasn't going to work. But last night when I couldn't sleep because oh my god – I don't know if you have kids but it's scary as shi- _anything_"

Lorelai tried to quickly correct her teenage vocabulary into something much more appropriate. Everything in Mia softened at this, strange as it was the fact that Lorelai tried to correct her youthful word choice reminded me exactly how young she was. Lorelai wasn't done being a kid yet but her she was ready and _willing_ to jump headfirst into the adult world of jobs, kids, and independence. The odds may have been stacked mile high against Lorelai but they either didn't phase her or she was to young to even know they existed, she wanted this to work and in her mind that meant it was going to work. Mia admired that.

"…To spend the night worrying. I kept checking her breathing. She would cry and need a diaper change or was hungry but it didn't bother me because I knew she was alive. But anyways the point is I wasn't sleeping. And during my not sleeping I just kept saying Lorelai over and over again, it eventually mutated into Rory and I liked and she responded well to Rory so… that's how that happened."

"You sure like to talk don't you?" Mia smiled.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I'm rambling, I don't mean to. I just get going and you know it's just really hard to stop." Lorelai started quickly and ending with the hesitation of someone who doesn't exactly understand what they're defending until they're almost through defending it.

"It's endearing." Mia turned and looked the teenage girl who was following close behind her. She looked her mind had yet to catch up to her exhausted body. Mia got the sense that this girl would not allow herself to rest until she had one of the many major problems she was facing at least, temporarily, solved.

The rest of the afternoon Lorelai spent tailing Mia around learning everything she needed to know about the inn. She was trying to absorb every detail. She wanted to make sure Mia never had to regret the decision of hiring her. She was going to be the best maid the Independence Inn had ever had.

When the day finally ended Mia handed baby Rory over to Lorelai, "Why don't you come spend the night at my place? We're fully booked and it will give us a chance to get to know each other a little better."

"Mia," Lorelai choked a little, she hadn't expected this and there was no reason or explanation for why this woman was being so impossibly nice to her, "I can't impose myself on you like that. You've already been so fabulous to me."

"I invited you; it's not imposing if I invited you."

Lorelai suddenly found it very difficult to talk; all her energy had been drained from her at that second. 24 hours worth of stress and emotions, she had no will to fight Mia's offer. "Alright, thank you, again."

"It's really no problem dear, come with me."

And with that they left.

They drove through the small town of Stars Hollow and Lorelai soaked up the sights. A somewhat obscurely placed gazebo, an eclectic mix of shops and markets, small houses with yards scattered with toys, exactly the dream town Lorelai had in mind when she left Hartford.

"How old is Rory?" Mia asked softly, acknowledging Lorelai's apparent exhaustion.

Lorelai stammered a bit, "Almost two days." Sensing Mia's astonishment and confusion she continued. "She was, is, impossibly healthy and problem free. No complications or anything?"

Again Lorelai's age was thrown in Mia's face by the most peculiar thing. Lorelai had just phrased a definitive statement as a question. She was asking permission or forgiveness, making sure it was ok. Something most girls grow out of with age. It seemed odd to compare this young, naïve girl with the confident, attentive young woman she had shown around the inn. It was even stranger that they were in fact the same person.

When Lorelai had finally calmed down and stopped rambling she was surprisingly professional and devoted. She attentively listened as Mia explained what her job would entail. Politely interrupting to ask questions when necessary, she was so focused it was hard to believe that she was being instructed on how to clean a toilet not how to run a small business. Whether she came by this intensity naturally or it was the instincts of a mother who had to provide for her child, Mia didn't know.

"So Lorelai, if you don't mind me asking, where is her father?"

"Um, well," Lorelai vocalized her thoughts as they hit her, "You know its funny because I didn't really think about him as I was packing up to leave. It just seemed like it was an issue or a factor, he just wasn't in the equation. I mean I ran away from the marriage I was probably going to be forced into with him by my parents – but I didn't run away from him" Lorelai paused.

"It should bother me more than it does." Lorelai said, Mia turned and looked at her slightly confused. "The fact that he isn't in the equation. That he doesn't have any grasp on the reality of the situation."

"What do you mean?" Mia asked sensing Lorelai wanted to share this. It was clear by the open endness of her former remark and by the eagerness with which she said it.

"I mean he thought us getting married now, at sixteen was going to make all the problems go away. That if we got married everything was going to be easy. But it wasn't, it was just going to create a whole new set of problems. More problems, not less.

I would just become a puppet with which my parents and his parents could raise my daughter; I wouldn't be the free-spirited Lorelai he loves. The Chris I fell in love with would become, my dad or his dad and we would fall apart. It's not like we were going to work forever anyways I mean, we're 16, first love. My parents didn't even like Chris up until he started to push the marriage thing and now its all 'Chris is so smart and so mature.' Well until that incident in the car last night. But at this point I'm pretty sure they prefer Chris to me." Lorelai laughed forcibly, it was a hollow, sad laugh.

Mia was surprised by the insight Lorelai had in the matter. She had expected that the boy had run off scared, forcing Lorelai to run because she didn't get along with her parents. Mia had invited the girl back to her house in hopes of talking her back into going home; but the more she discovered the details the less that seemed like the right thing.

"I don't want you to think I'm some stupid kid who has no idea what she's doing." Lorelai declared, startling Mia. "This wasn't some spur of the moment thing; I had been planning this since my sixth month. I just didn't expect to run so soon, and I didn't even know about Stars Hollow till last night when my mother got lost. It just seemed like fate was intervening and saying 'Lorelai, the time, the place, everything is right.' I know this isn't going to be a fairy tale. I'm not stupid. If I had wanted the easy life I would have stayed at the Gilmore Mansion. I can't go back now; I can't give up and give in. I can't need them now. I have to prove to them that there is another way to live. I have to make sure Rory doesn't make the same mistakes."

Lorelai was talking to herself now. She was explaining it to herself. Justifying it. She was trying to make herself feel better but it was hard to cheer yourself up when hot tears roll down your face.

"And I don't want Rory to think she was just a mistake." Lorelai sniffled looking at the baby in her arms. "Because she's not. Who knows where I would be now if I didn't get pregnant. I mean, sex, drugs, booze, I wasn't exactly an angel. I wanted choice in my life. I never wanted to go to Yale but for some reason it was always assumed I was going to Yale. After I went to Yale I would be marrying a Yale alumni and would become a housewife. I would join the DAR and host parties. That was my life. So you want to know what I did to get out of it? I slept with Christopher and a bunch of boys before him. I snuck out the window and went to parties. Drugs, booze, Chris and I had our fair share of car crashes, hangovers, mornings of waking up and having no clue where we were. I didn't want that life either. It was just the polar opposite of what I was going to have. When I finally calmed down about being pregnant I realized this gave me the opportunity to live any life I wanted."

She was sobbing hysterically now. Confessing her sins to a stranger and more importantly her daughter, it didn't matter that Rory didn't understand a single thing that Lorelai was saying but that she was saying it. She was going to do this differently then her mother. She was going to share this life with Rory; they were going to find their place together. Rory's literal birth was Lorelai's rebirth. She was Lorelai's second chance at finding a life outside the Gilmore Mansion.

"Everything will be ok." Mia assured Lorelai, and she was going to do everything within her power to make sure it would be.

**This is definitely a lot different then writing a shipper fic so I'm curious to know how people feel about it.**


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